CLEVELAND -- If the Cavaliers want to put Boston away quickly, they'll have to start doing things a little differently.
Yes, the Cavs lead their first-round series, 2-0, following Tuesday's 99-91 win over the visiting Celtics.
And yes, winning both games at home is the very best you can do. But the Cavs will need to do better, as the series now shifts away from home.
"We definitely have to be better to start the game," said Cavs star LeBron James, who was definitely good at the end, scoring 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter.
The rest of the night, however, the Cavs were so-so against a very determined Celtics team that refuses to go away.
For one, the Cavs committed 18 turnovers, which led to 22 points for Boston. For another, the Cavs trailed the Celtics in total rebounds (23-20) at the end of the first half.
They have enough talent to overcome that in the comfort of Quicken Loans Arena. That may not be the case elsewhere -- or more specifically, in Game 3 at the Celtics' TD Garden on Thursday.
"The mistakes you can make at home, you cannot make on the road," James said. "We have to understand that. We have to understand they're going to come out with a lot of aggression. We have to be ready for it."
How should the Cavs go about it?
"First of all, we can't have 18 turnovers (that result in) 22 points," James said. "We have to clean the glass and take care of the ball, and that will give us the best chance to win in a hostile environment."
Cavs coach David Blatt shared similar sentiments, implying the Cavs should almost always own the glass against this particular opponent.
"If we're taking today as an example, I'd say defensive rebound (is an area of needed-improvement in Boston)," Blatt said. "We did get stops, we just didn't get rebounds. I know the ball is going to go in for us. We're a good shooting team."
Now, the Cavs did end up winning the battle on the boards by a 47-39 count. A large part of that had to do with Tristan Thompson, who came off the bench and didn't even take a shot -- but hustled his way to a team-high 11 rebounds.
A couple came in the critical fourth quarter, with no less than Celtics coach Brad Stevens praising Thompson for making some "huge, huge plays."
The Cavs also received 26 points from Kyrie Irving, who is averaging 28 for the series, and 16 points and five blocks from Timofey Mozgov.
These are the type of plays and performances the Cavs will need throughout an entire game, not just in a quarter or two, when they hit the highway.
That, and defend when things aren't going well offensively.
"You can't hang your head on offense in the postseason. You have something to fall back on, and that's defense," James said of postseason life on the road. "If we defend and we rebound, we'll give ourselves a great chance to win Game 3."
